'Paint or be sued,' says Jersey Village council

Resident given 90 days to do job or go to court

Published 6:30 am, Monday, November 21, 2005

Jersey Village city councilmembers on Monday ordered a resident to paint his house on Juneau Lane in 90 days or the case will go to municipal court.

In a unanimous vote, the council found resident Duane Josephson in violation of the city's code of ordinances for allowing the wooden portions of his wood-and-brick home to remain unpainted for close to two years.

Josephson removed the original paint from the wood in early 2004, but has not painted the house since.

The council vote was the last step before sending the case to Jersey Village Municipal Court. The council order gave Josephson 90 days to paint the house, or it will go directly to court where, if he is found guilty of the misdemeanor charge, he can be fined up to $500 a day until the violation is corrected.

Jersey Village building official John Brown has issued about six notices to Josephson to paint his home since March 2004. He said the goal of the notices was to find a way to work with Josephson to come into compliance with the ordinance before taking it to council.

Brown said he spoke with Josephson several times, who has "only told us what he can't do. He won't or can't do it."

Josephson had the opportunity to tell his side of the story in a public hearing before the council took the vote.

He said he has lived in the 1,400-square-foot home since 1972, and always maintained his yard and home. However, in 1982 he was injured in a serious car accident and resulting back problems have grown worse ever since.

Josephson said he bought a paint sprayer and enough paint to cover the house two years ago; however, he said after removing the old paint with a pressure washer, he found the wood underneath was rotten. He said his family did not have the financial resources at the time to purchase and hire someone to repair the wood, and he was not able to do it himself.

"There was no point in painting over rotten wood," Josephson said. "And we can't afford to buy wood to replace the rotten wood. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip."

After receiving notice from the city of his potential code violation, Josephson said he contacted his doctor, who ordered him not to perform the work with his physical disabilities. He said he contacted the city to explain his predicament.

"We understand that you do not have the resources to do the work yourself," said Mayor Ed Heathcott. "The problem is, we have come to this point and you haven't offered a plan or an alternative. We can't continue with this indefinitely."

Josephson said he would find a way to repair the wood, and paint the house if council would give him sufficient time to do the work.

"If I have to I will beg on the corner," Josephson said. "I will get it done."

Later in the meeting, council voted on the order to allow Josephson 90 days to repair and paint his house. However, some members were not confident the work would get done.

"We've gone down this path with other residents and nothing came of it," Heathcott said. "Hopefully this will be a new day; however, it is my gut feeling that he just said what he had to say (to get the extension of time), unfortunately."

Josephson has until Feb. 21 to get the house painted.

In other business

The council:

•Discussed reducing the city's municipal court staff from three part-time judges to two or one. The council will discuss the issue at its Dec. 19 regular meeting. All court appointments municipal court judges must be made by Jan. 1, 2006. Appointed five residents to a new municipal facilities committee. That committee will analyze all city facilities, and make any recommendations for repair or construction, by March 2006.

Appointed Timothy Craze as a reserve police office in the Jersey Village Police Department.